To a liberal New York audience, explaining rigid religious faith, especially a faith as peculiar as Mormonism, may as well be like talking to a Martian. I also expect that Missa Solemnis will consistently draw a majority gay audience. But in order for the play to work, Fesser has to put his audience deep into the Mormon mindset of Henry Mathis (played with unflinching earnestness by Matt Huffman). The results are jarring, and at times painfully awkward. Henry delivers lines like “My devotion to Heavenly Father is palpable,” and “I have felt the Holy Ghost before and I know with dedication and prayer he will guide me.” Contractions are eschewed, and the mannerisms, speech patterns, and meter seem like they are from another century. Fesser, a Long Islander turned undercover Mormonologist, struggles to reach a balance in these early scenes, not helped at all by his cold passion play-like opener.
But while these initial scenes may kill the play’s early momentum by telling rather than showing, they do succeed in getting you into Henry Mathis’ mindset. In the middle and later sections, when Henry actively confronts his demons, the nuances of his struggle become immediately clear. The yeoman work of the early scenes pays dividends when Henry meets with Bishop Robert Rhodes (Warren Katz), whose own sexuality is made somewhat ambiguous.
The story comes to full fruition with Henry’s love affair with Manhattan socialite Todd (Jai Catalano, who provides the character with the necessary effortless simpatico). Todd is baffled but intrigued by Henry's devout religious faith, and he remains open to Henry’s spirituality mainly because of the irascible charm of Henry himself. Todd’s view is most similar to that of a New York audience, but because the scene comes much later in the play, the focus stays entirely on Henry’s struggle. You can see in Huffman’s face just how drawn he is to Todd, but also how much his faith violently tugs at that attraction every time he lets it show.
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